| Jack Hammer |
Image Gallery |
- For additional meanings of "Jack", please see Jack (disambiguation).
| Wendy Oldbag |
| Oh, he was the biggest star in the studio! [...] He shone the brightest! Back in the day. |
Jack Hammer was a famous action star who played the Evil Magistrate, the main villain on the Global Studios show The Steel Samurai: Warrior of Neo Olde Tokyo. He was the victim in Phoenix Wright's third case.
Fall of a star
The accident that ruined Hammer's career.
In 2011, Jack Hammer was filming a scene for his next big movie, but he accidentally pushed his co-star Manuel onto a spiked fence, killing him. The producer, Dee Vasquez, covered up the incident, and she began to blackmail Hammer, forcing him to play various low-paid villain roles including the Evil Magistrate, the main villain on the television show The Steel Samurai: Warrior of Neo Olde Tokyo.
Failed vengeance
- Main article: Turnabout Samurai
One day, fed up with his situation, Hammer decided to confront Vasquez and murder her. He drugged Will Powers with sleeping pills and stole his Steel Samurai costume. Then, by faking a limp Powers had sustained during a run-through, Hammer limped past the security cameras to implicate his co-star. Arriving at Studio Two, Hammer confronted Vasquez and made to kill her with the Samurai Spear prop. Unfortunately for the action star, during the struggle Vasquez accidentally pushed him onto the same iron fence that had ended the life of Manuel, and he was impaled through the heart.
Vasquez proceeded to cover up this murder, with the aid of Sal Manella. The two destroyed the Steel Samurai costume in a furnace and drove the corpse of Hammer to Studio One in an attempt to draw attention away from Vasquez and put the blame on Powers.
Powers was quickly accused of the crime but with the help of Phoenix Wright, Maya Fey and Miles Edgeworth, the true culprit was uncovered in court.
Personality
Hammer's mugshot.
Little is known of Hammer's personality as he died before Wright could encounter him. However, his actions seem to indicate that the accidental killing of Manuel and the subsequent blackmailing turned him into a bitter man. He obviously developed a deep hatred towards Vasquez, but also a resentment towards Powers. Powers had landed the lead heroic role in a show in which Hammer was forced to play a hated villain. To add insult to injury, he was then paid "peanuts" for his hard work. Fed up with all of these hits to his reputation, he was driven to attempt murder, which ironically ended in his own death. Vasquez at one point suggests that Manuel's death was not an accident, but that Hammer had done it on purpose. It's never confirmed whether what she says is true, although she does ask why else Hammer would let her mercilessly run his life otherwise.
Name
- His Japanese surname, "Ibukuro" (衣袋), means "stomach" or "torso", which is where he was stabbed.
- "Jack Hammer" is a play on jackhammer, a construction tool.
- His surname may also be a reference to Hammer Film Productions.